Media Relations

DURHAM, N.H. – One year after the BP Deepwa­ter Horizon oil rig explosion on the Gulf Coast, new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire shows that despite the roughly equivalent economic com­pensation, Louisiana and Florida residents differ in percep­tions about the current and long-term effects of the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history.

“Louisiana residents were more likely than Floridians to say their family suffered major economic setbacks because of the spill, to expect compensa­tion by BP, and plan to leave the region as a result of the spill. Louisianans also were more likely to think their state and local governments were doing an excellent job responding to the spill and to trust newspapers as a source of information regarding the spill,” said Jessica Ulrich, a doctoral student in sociology at UNH and research assistant at the Carsey Institute.

The research is part of the Carsey Institute’s Com­munity and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initia­tive. Since 2007, Carsey Institute researchers have conducted nearly 19,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans (age 18 and above) from 12 diverse rural locations.

Carsey researchers surveyed 2,023 residents of the Gulf Coast following the BP Deepwa­ter Horizon oil rig explosion in April 2010. During the late summer, while oil was still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, researchers conducted telephone interviews with 1,017 residents of Louisiana’s Plaquemines and Terrebonne parishes and 1,006 residents of Florida’s Bay, Gulf, and Franklin coun­ties.

Respondents were asked how they perceived the oil spill to be affecting their families, communities, and the environ­ment, their levels of trust in sources of information about the spill, and whether they perceived institutional responses to the spill as effective.

The key findings show:

Nearly one-half of all Gulf Coast residents (48 percent) perceived damage to the environment and wildlife as the most serious result of the oil spill.

Perceptions regarding the impact of the spill reflect the economic differences in the two states—Floridians are most concerned about effects on tourism and Louisianans on the fishing and oil industries.

The majority of Gulf Coast residents thought that the economy, fishing industry, beaches, and wildlife would recover within a few years after the spill.

Gulf Coast residents had little faith in BP to rectify the situation after the oil spill. Fifty-nine percent did not trust the information BP provided about the spill, and 69 percent thought BP was doing a poor or fair job responding effectively to the spill.

Although more than one-half of the respondents from both states experienced either major or minor economic effects from the Gulf oil spill, only 16 percent of Floridians and 18 percent of Louisianans have been compensated or expect that BP will compensate them for the losses.

Louisianans were more than twice as likely as Floridians to think that their state and local governments were doing an excellent job responding to the spill. Approximately three-fourths (77 percent) of Gulf Coast residents thought that the federal government was doing a poor or fair job responding.

Nine out of 10 Gulf Coast residents plan to remain in the region despite the economic and environmental impacts of the spill. Those planning to move because of the spill are more likely to be Louisianans than Floridians.

“CERA surveys, such as the one conducted in the Gulf in the wake of the BP spill, can gather important subjective information about percep­tions of changes occurring in rural America. The findings can be utilized by local leaders, policy makers, and disas­ter response teams to help foster healthy and sustainable communities that can rebound from -- and perhaps prevent -- even large-scale disasters like the BP oil spill,” Ulrich said.
The complete report about this research is available at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/CarseySearch/search.php?id=158.

The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire conducts research and analysis on the challenges facing families and communities in New Hampshire, New England, and the nation. The Carsey Institute sponsors independent, interdisciplinary research that documents trends and conditions affecting families and communities, providing valuable information and analysis to policymakers, practitioners, the media, and the general public. Through this work, the Carsey Institute contributes to public dialogue on policies that encourage social mobility and sustain healthy, equitable communities.

The Carsey Institute was established in May 2002 through a generous gift from UNH alumna and noted television producer Marcy Carsey. For more information about the Carsey Institute, go to www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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Editors and reporters: Thomas Safford, assistant professor of sociology at UNH and faculty fellow with the UNH Carsey Institute, is available to discuss this research. He can be reached at 603-862-1876 and tom.safford@unh.edu.